Paper wasps can be trained to choose between pairs of stimuli that are either alike or different, suggesting the propensity for abstract thought may be more widespread than we thought
can also differentiate between same and different in a task where they were trained to recognise these concepts.Tibbetts and her team placed wasps in a small box and trained them with either alike or different stimuli, such as two pictures of wasp faces, colours or odours. Either the alike pairs or the different pairs were accompanied by a small electric shock.
“I’m torn between the idea that wow, it’s so impressive that this wasp with a brain that’s the size of a grain of rice can do this amazing thing, and then part of me is like, maybe this thing isn’t so amazing,” says Tibbetts. “In humans we think concept formation is amazing, but maybe it’s super common, and animals can do it in a very simple way.
“Wasps are consistently rubbished by people, compared unfavourably to honeybees and generally maligned, so it is wonderful to see a study that shows them to be a great deal smarter than we thought,” says
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